Still an empty Lincoln School Board seat after election

By Dan DuChene
Nov. 4, 2009 · 1:40 a.m.

Story updated -- 1:40 p.m.

Both the local millage proposal in Ypsilanti Township, and the county-wide millage proposal were rejected by voters Tuesday.

Election results are according to preliminary numbers released by the Washtenaw County Clerk’s Office and will not become official until approved by the Washtenaw County Board of Canvassers, which is expected by Monday.

A proposal that would have raised taxes across the county by 2 mills and generated an estimated $30 million a year until 2013 showed signs of defeat early in the evening as votes started to be tallied after 8 p.m. The measure, which would have doled out the revenue to Washtenaw County school districts on a per-pupil basis, was defeated by voters both in the Ypsilanti area and across the county.

Proposed by the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, the measure failed with 57 percent of voters across the county voting against the proposal.

The proposal only won in four out of the 24 precincts in Ypsilanti Township, Ypsilanti city and Superior Township. Two precincts were in Ypsilanti Township and two were in the city.

The closest the measure came to winning an Ypsilanti-area municipality was in the city, in which 47.64 percent voted for the proposal. In Superior Township, 29.24 percent of voters approved the measure and 33.46 voted for the proposal in Ypsilanti Township.

Ypsilanti Township voters also voted down a millage request to maintain police services, though, this time much more narrowly.

The 2-mill property tax increase was expected to garner $3.2 million a year until 2012 and maintain the Township's 38 Sheriff's deputies. The measure was voted down by a 169-vote margin, with 51.42 percent of the ballots voting against.

There were three candidates competing for two seats in the school board race at Lincoln Consolidated School.

Trustee Jennifer LaBombarbe secured her appointed seat in the election, garnering 33 percent of the vote. District parent Jennifer Czachorski secured the most votes, garnering 36 percent. Zack Conley II, a former Augusta Township trustee, was voted down, only collecting 28.5 percent of the ballots.

Jennifer Beauchamp, deputy clerk for Washtenaw County, said there were no write in candidates who filed on time for the single partial-term seat on the Lincoln School Board. She said there were 270 write-in ballots cast, but since there was no legitimate candidate there was no legitimate winner.

Beauchamp said the board will have to appoint someone to the seat, which expires in 2012.

A total of 6,858 ballots were cast from Washtenaw County in the Lincoln Consolidated Schools' district.

A representative from Lincoln called the county to see if they could find out if someone who was written in by voters had received a substantial number of votes, Beauchamp said, but there is no way that could happen. She said the district can't file for a re-count either, as there were no legitimate candidates Tuesday.

With 98 percent of the precincts in the county responding at 1:40 a.m., the turnout rate across Washtenaw County was estimated at 22.2 percent.

Beauchamp said the only ballots the county is waiting for are from voting areas outside the county, as some school districts, Lincoln Consolidated Schools for example, run into neighboring counties. She said results from those areas are expected by 11 a.m.

The turnout rate in the city of Ann Arbor, which had a City Council race and two city-wide proposals, was slightly lower than the county rate, with 18.4 percent.

In the Ypsilanti area, the turnout was lower still. In the city of Ypsilanti, where there was no local matter beside the county-wide measure, the turnout rate was 14.7 percent. In Ypsilanti Township, which had the police millage decision, had a turnout rate at 15.6 percent.

The best turnout rate in the Ypsilanti area was in Superior Township, which was at 16.6 percent.

Both Beauchamp and Ypsilanti City Clerk Frances McMullan said the turnout was higher than expected Tuesday.

“Everyone was very pleased,” Beauchamp said.

Expecting a turnout rate slightly higher than a May election, Beauchamp said the turnout rate across the county was “a lot better than we expected,” as there were not state or national contests.

The turnout rate in Washtenaw County during the last May election was 4.98 percent.

McMullan said she was expecting a 10-15 percent turnout rate in Ypsilanti, and was on-target for that number.

As for the election itself, McMullan said the day ran smoothly. She said there was, however, a malfunction with an electronic tabulator at East Middle School in the city’s Ward 1.

“However, it did not interfere with the voting process,” she said. “Our highly trained election inspectors followed protocol and handled the situation well until the replacement equipment arrived.”

McMullan said the tabulator was down for approximately two or three hours.

“Voters were able to still vote and place their ballots secretly in a secure auxiliary bin to be ran later,” she said.

Editor's note - 9:15 a.m.: This story was updated with information from Deputy Washtenaw County Clerk Jennifer Beauchamp and Ypsilanti City Clerk Frances McMullan. The contest for the partially termed seat on the Lincoln Consolidated Schools' Board of Education was clarified. Comments were collected about the voter turnout as well.

Editor's note - 1:40 p.m. This story was updated to include more accurate information regarding the election at Lincoln Consolidated Schools. The Citizen was made aware that Ralph Nodwell was not running in the LCS election for the partially termed seat. Nodwell, still the only valid write-in candidate in Washtenaw County, was running as a write-in candidate for the VanBuren Schools' election.